1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to motor vehicles, such as passenger cars and light trucks. More particularly, the present invention relates generally to a multi-component front end for a motor vehicle, which advances the methods by which motor vehicles are assembled.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, the front ends of most motor vehicles are built into the vehicle body one piece or component at a time. The installation of literally hundreds of different components in the motor vehicle front end requires the manufacturer to maintain lengthy, complex, and costly assembly lines as well as extensive tooling and fixtures. This complexity is due not only to the high number of parts involved, but also the assembly methods currently used in the automotive industry and the amount of on-line adjusting and repair that is often needed to correct assembly defects. Additionally, the well-known assembly line process is highly labor intensive, again due mainly to the high number of parts and assembly methods currently used in the automotive industry.
Typically, once a painted vehicle body comes to the finish assembly line, hundreds of individual components are assembled to the vehicle body. The numerous individual components are used to complete the suspension system, steering and braking system, power train, cooling system, electrical system, etc. As stated, the individual components comprising these systems are typically added to the vehicle body one-by-one or in small subgroups to finish the assembly of the motor vehicle.
The large number of components required to assemble a motor vehicle requires the assembly line to be extremely long and requires many people to accomplish numerous discreet tasks along the assembly line. This makes the process of motor vehicle assembly unnecessarily slow and complicated and adversely affects the quality and reliability of the motor vehicle when it is completed. Additionally, the confined space within which the workers operate makes on-line service and repair tasks difficult and even dangerous. The overall complexity of the current system for assembling motor vehicles is unnecessarily slow and expensive and there is considerable room for improvement.